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What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/20/2008 7:40:49 PM
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Prairiehiker
Posts: 3269
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The real question is, what do you do when what you know or accepted to be true does not translate to feeling that it is true. Please don't tell me that feelings arent' important. God made us with the ability to feel and to disregard this aspect of ourselves is just not right.
Now, again, what if you try your hardest to accept truth about a certain character of God, but you can't feel this reality in your life. Shouldn't your emotions reflect the foundational truth that you're trying to build your life on?
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Wishing for a Steelers/Eagles superbowl.
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/20/2008 8:07:03 PM
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ladyichigo
Posts: 550
Joined: 10/23/2007
From: Honolulu
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I think that your emotions should reflect the foundational truths you're trying to build your life on...BUT I also think that your emotions are also rooted deep in your carnality of wanting to do it "your way". I have difficulty in this area also which I am trying to work on. It's definitely a heart issue that will take time.
I'd like to compare the process to training for a marathon or something. In your head, you know what you have to do, and you want to do it, but your heart and your body are like..."but I don't wanna....I'm tired,....I'm sore....."
...I wonder if I'm making any sense?
Anyway, that's how I see it.
_____________________________
Mari
My avatar picture is my father-in-law, Rev. Yuichiro Nakano jumping over fireworks on 12/31/08 to entertain his grand-kids. He's 70.
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/20/2008 9:15:55 PM
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mvic
Posts: 1801
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Feelings and emotions are part of our human nature - we can't fight them and we have to live with them and learn to control them.
Jesus, as a human, had the same difficulties too. In the Garden of the Mount of Olives, before His arrest, His human side demanded that the suffering and cruel death would just pass Him by. Yet, His Faith came to the fore and He said: Not my will, but yours.
Of course, we are not like Jesus, and maybe we don't have as much Faith in God as He had. But this shouldn't stop us from trying to control our feelings and emotions which, if unchecked, can hold back our progress towards God.
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Visit http://www.holyvisions.co.uk
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/20/2008 10:27:00 PM
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makarizo
Posts: 2998
Joined: 4/13/2005
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quote:
Now, again, what if you try your hardest to accept truth about a certain character of God, but you can't feel this reality in your life.
a basic law of equalibrium..... all to do with your thinker and feeler....
the truth plus your perception of it equals your reality.
so even if my cousin knows for a fact that not all men are jerks, she just can't seem to get past that giant sweeping generalization obstacle.
God imparts knowledge/reveals/discloses himself into the believers who seek and ask, walk, surrender,,,,,it's part of that sanctification
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/20/2008 11:25:20 PM
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LCannon
Posts: 1227
Joined: 2/22/2007
From: Lebanon, OR
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Sometimes our desires, exceptions or limited imagination allows us to be hijacked from admittedly(if we're honest)the work God is doing in a personal life experience. We all have exceptions, the best case scenario perhaps simplistic in it's naivete', but the real test is in the actual living of our faith. Never quit dreaming(and praying even selfishly), wonderful things do happen, seize even the softest whisper and faintest whiff but always be aware of God opportunity for obedience and His grace.
_____________________________
"It may be that when the angels go about their task of praising God they play
only Bach. I am sure, however, that when they are together en famille they
play Mozart and then too our dear Lord listens with special pleasure."(Karl Barth)
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/21/2008 2:02:16 AM
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KnowJesus
Posts: 271
Joined: 7/21/2006
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Prairiehiker
The real question is, what do you do when what you know or accepted to be true does not translate to feeling that it is true. Please don't tell me that feelings aren't' important. God made us with the ability to feel and to disregard this aspect of ourselves is just not right.
Now, again, what if you try your hardest to accept truth about a certain character of God, but you can't feel this reality in your life. Shouldn't your emotions reflect the foundational truth that you're trying to build your life on?
As a child I learned allot of truths and did not have a feeling one way or another, I just took them for what they were, "truth." When I got to be in my teens I decided not to accept these truths anymore because I didn't feel like I had too. I was in charge of me (I thought)...and I wouldn't allow my "feelings" to get in the way of what I wanted to do. Years went by (into my 30's) and my life had changed dramatically, because of Jesus Christ. It was then by faith, I believed. It wasn't about my "feelings" or lack of them, it was about believing him, trusting his word to be truth. Because it lined up with what he had done for me. You see, I knew, I was forgiven, clean for the first time in my life.. I figured if God could do a work in me like that, and change my life from being a miserable, selfish, wretched fool, to a new creation, then I could believe by faith, without "feelings." One thing, for sure "feelings" do come and go. But faith is forever in our relationship with Christ.
Satan is a player on our "feelings." 'Feelings" are real, but can be deceiving, just like him. Building and strengthening our faith in Jesus, relying more on him and less on ourselves enables us to put aside the feelings we hold on to. Asking the Lord, for his wisdom revealed to us through the Holy Spirit, the Bible and the counsels of true Christian believers in Christ can help us know truth, and not deceptions. Putting our feelings aside to focus directly on what's purposeful...and that's glorifying Jesus through our lives.
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/21/2008 3:08:37 AM
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Roberta_
Posts: 7421
Joined: 9/28/2007
From: East Bay Area
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Sometimes the longest distance on earth is the 18" between the head and the heart. - Cynthia Spell-Humbert
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/21/2008 1:23:13 PM
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terryjohn
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I have heard some famous christian men claim they have never experienced the presence of God in their lives and yet they beleive. I guess this is one reson they were only famous for their words and not their deeds. Surely love is an emotion that no christian can say they do not have. For without love we really are nothing and know not Christ at all and even worse have nothing to offer others who have no hope?
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/21/2008 3:11:40 PM
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RJR_fan
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Mother Teresa had a powerful encounter with God in her younger years, but spent most of her life walking by faith, in the absence of supporting emotions. I suspect she was one of God's great ones -- but am thankful to have a different set of marching orders from our King.
One of the things that drove C. S. Lewis away from the faith in his youth was the assertion that he ought to "feel" a certain way about God and worship -- and he didn't feel it.
_____________________________
Blogging my way through the Turkish New Testament
Meet my beloved mentor, RJR
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/21/2008 4:34:16 PM
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Liveloved
Posts: 2075
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Prairiehiker,
Surrendering ourselves to God is what is needed for Him to accomplish His work in us. The surrender includes exactly what you are talking about---the willingness and acceptance of darkness, lack of understanding, feeling or even knowing, but just trusting and waiting in the silence.
Many have walked this path. One who is quite well known is St. John of the Cross. He described it this way. "He (God) strips their faculties, affections, and feelings, both spiritual and sensual, both outward and inward, leaving the understanding dark, the will dry, the memory empty, and the affections in the deepest affliction, bitterness and constraint, taking from the soul the pleasure and experience of spiritual blessings which it had aforetime. . .so that there may be introduced into it and united with it the spiritual form of the spirit, which is the union of love."
God has not abandoned you, prairiehiker, but wants more for you. . . more than you can conceive of or even want for yourself such as Eph 3:20 speaks of. "Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us."
That's what He's doing. It's wonderful. It's marvelous. It's love. And He's asking you to wait. . . in silence.
Read Psalm 62 and encourage yourself. Believe. He loves you! As do I and I'm praying for you right now,  LL
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/21/2008 6:43:35 PM
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Psalms274
Posts: 2243
Joined: 8/13/2005
From: Georgia
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Prairiehiker
The real question is, what do you do when what you know or accepted to be true does not translate to feeling that it is true. Please don't tell me that feelings aren't' important. God made us with the ability to feel and to disregard this aspect of ourselves is just not right.
Now, again, what if you try your hardest to accept truth about a certain character of God, but you can't feel this reality in your life. Shouldn't your emotions reflect the foundational truth that you're trying to build your life on?
What you are describing is what I have come to know as a "wilderness" experience. It is like you are out on a boat at night on a very cloudy night. You cannot see or hear anything as you cry out, and wonder if you are the only one there. For some reason, God will hide Himself as to test us ... not tempt us mind you, but it is a test. We see no evidence of His hand in any part of our life, yet we know in our head, that He is there. We are called to have faith in Him, even we do not see Him ... and often when we do not feel His presence, or see evidence in our circumstances, we have to go right to what we have learned about Him in our walk up to that point. What is His character? Who does He say that He is ... it is tough to do.
I think of it this way. We know that the sun is over us everyday at noon ... yet when it is storming, we do not see any evidence of the sun. It doesn't mean the sun is no longer there, it is just hidden behind the storm clouds. God too is always there for us, even when we do not see the evidence in our circumstances.
A number of years ago I was reading John 20 where Mary Magdalen was talking to Jesus but did not recognize Him. In verse 13 and 14 it says:
"They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus."
When you look up the translation for the word "saw" it means she was studying Him intently. I could not figure out how in the world she could be looking right at Him, in fact studying His face as she looked, and yet did not recognize Him. So I asked Him, "Lord, I do not get this one. How could she be studying your features and not recognize you even though she was with you for three years?"
He gave me the answer in the following experience:
A week or two later I was at the pool, and saw this lady who looked just like my aunt "Sally." I had stayed in the same house with Sally for several months, she was married to my uncle. I studied her intently, she had the same face, the same voice, the same tattoo on her shoulder. I couldn't believe how much they looked alike. I saw her again and again ... with a man who was not my uncle. One day I found out that she was indeed "Sally." The scripture I had pondered came to mind, I now understood. I saw Sally out of the context that I was use to seeing her in. It never occurred to me she would be with another man. Mary did not recognize Jesus because the last time she saw Him He had been beaten beyond recognition. She was not expecting to see Him and therefore did not recognize Him.
In the same way, we miss God even though He is right there in front of us. We cannot imagine how He could be in this or that circumstance, so we do not recognize Him. But He is still there, whether we recognize Him or not.
_____________________________
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.
Linus, my dog, little Kaleigh and Sally!
http://piswa.blogspot.com/
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 11/21/2008 7:12:25 PM
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deermousie
Posts: 1944
Joined: 9/26/2007
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When what you feel doesn't line up with what you know, it's time to shout down those feelings and go do what you know.
Kinda like the first time I had sushi. Raw fish. Yes, on purpose, and not a prank. I was in Japan and they all eat it there. I looked at the sushi and it looked back. I told my brain to shut up and I stuck it in my mouth.
Hey, it was pretty good. 120 million Japanese can't be wrong (or how many there are. They are eating well).
We're always going to have head/heart problems because we are sinners. In heaven it won't be a problem, so doing what is right there won't be any credit to anyone. But here on earth every time you determine to do what God wants you bring Him glory, because your sin nature and the devil's prodding are leading the other way.
_____________________________
Want to know where a certain word or phrase in the Bible is found? www.biblegateway.com Yay!
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 12/21/2008 3:28:02 AM
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WanderingLamb
Posts: 16
Joined: 11/10/2005
From: Western WA, USA
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Psalms274
What you are describing is what I have come to know as a "wilderness" experience. It is like you are out on a boat at night on a very cloudy night. You cannot see or hear anything as you cry out, and wonder if you are the only one there. For some reason, God will hide Himself as to test us ... not tempt us mind you, but it is a test. We see no evidence of His hand in any part of our life, yet we know in our head, that He is there. We are called to have faith in Him, even we do not see Him ... and often when we do not feel His presence, or see evidence in our circumstances, we have to go right to what we have learned about Him in our walk up to that point. What is His character? Who does He say that He is ... it is tough to do.
I think of it this way. We know that the sun is over us everyday at noon ... yet when it is storming, we do not see any evidence of the sun. It doesn't mean the sun is no longer there, it is just hidden behind the storm clouds. God too is always there for us, even when we do not see the evidence in our circumstances.
A number of years ago I was reading John 20 where Mary Magdalen was talking to Jesus but did not recognize Him. In verse 13 and 14 it says:
"They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus."
When you look up the translation for the word "saw" it means she was studying Him intently. I could not figure out how in the world she could be looking right at Him, in fact studying His face as she looked, and yet did not recognize Him. So I asked Him, "Lord, I do not get this one. How could she be studying your features and not recognize you even though she was with you for three years?"
He gave me the answer in the following experience:
A week or two later I was at the pool, and saw this lady who looked just like my aunt "Sally." I had stayed in the same house with Sally for several months, she was married to my uncle. I studied her intently, she had the same face, the same voice, the same tattoo on her shoulder. I couldn't believe how much they looked alike. I saw her again and again ... with a man who was not my uncle. One day I found out that she was indeed "Sally." The scripture I had pondered came to mind, I now understood. I saw Sally out of the context that I was use to seeing her in. It never occurred to me she would be with another man. Mary did not recognize Jesus because the last time she saw Him He had been beaten beyond recognition. She was not expecting to see Him and therefore did not recognize Him.
In the same way, we miss God even though He is right there in front of us. We cannot imagine how He could be in this or that circumstance, so we do not recognize Him. But He is still there, whether we recognize Him or not.
Thanks for sharing this!
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RE: What if your head and your heart doesn't connect - 12/23/2008 7:04:06 AM
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filhodedeus
Posts: 89
Joined: 8/16/2005
From: Australia
Status: offline
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PrairieHiker....
I have walked this annoying path too many times in my life, my friend. It is a difficult and frustrating one at that! After much reflection, I have noticed a pattern.
My heart being on board with a truth of God was almost always based on a revelation I received directly from Him when I was seeking Him about something specific.
My head being on board with a truth of God was almost always based on me hearing someone (usually a preacher) tell me about his/her revelation they received directly from Him.
I understood what the preacher was saying, but I absorbed the revelation that God gave me. This is not to diminish what preachers do by any means. I think they are a provocative bunch and help to teach us and spur us on to our own search for personal revelation.
As a Christian community, it has become commonplace for us to allow the mama bird preacher regurgitate their hard work into our gullets to get us through to the next meal.
Also, if God gave us all the revelation we needed at once...why would we seek Him after that? It's about the give and take of our relationship with Him that He seems to value. He enjoys the journey and isn't as focused on the destination as we are.
Stay strong my friend. God is giving you the opportunity to seek the Creator of the universe, just so He can develop a stronger relationship with his beloved child. All He has is yours. It's not about being in the place where you have it all, it's about the beauty of the journey with God to get it.
Bless you
_____________________________
Leviticus 13:40 If a man's hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean.
The Bible is chock full of good news!!
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